Three incidents that I’m narrating should be a lesson for all Senior Citizens and their children living abroad or in another city. Even though there are many incidents that I am aware of in GK-I alone, for the sake of brevity, I shall narrate just three. Confidence tricksters abound and having set eyes on the target, with a pleasant demeanor they confidently reach out to help and before anyone realises they have succeeded in stealing your Money.
Two weeks back GK-I Police Team laid a trap and apprehended a man who used to lurk around ATM’s and on the pretext of helping the Senior Citizen, he would vanish with the Withdrawn Cash.
In another case a youngster living with his grandmother used to accompany her to the Bank to withdraw cash. The boy used to fill the Cheque in front of her in the bank and she would sign it for him to stand in the Queue to withdraw cash. This happened for months on end, till one day the Lady went to the Bank alone to withdraw cash and was told there was no Balance. Aghast the Lady said there were lakhs deposited and she routinely withdrew 3-5 thousand Rupees, how come there is no balance.
On investigation, the bank found that while the lady would sign a cheque for Rs. 4,000/- the helpful grandson would add a Zero to the amount and withdraw Rs.40,000 thus emptying out the Account. It is often said Love is Blind, that includes Love for Grand Children and Seniors must realise that.
Third is the case of an 85 year old lady whose neighbour had gained so much of her confidence, that she had access to the cupboard where her Cheque Books were kept. The neighbour started to write out cheques for small amounts with forged signatures. The initial success on small amounts encouraged the lady neighbour to try her hand at larger amounts drawn in favour of Jewellers and other business entities. It was not just one bank account, three banks and Post Office account were thus emptied out over a period of a few months, to the tune of over Rs. 40 Lakhs.
Not getting into details, nine months later on her return from USA, the Senior lady discovered emptying of her accounts, on being confronted the culprit owned up to her fraud. As luck would have it in this case, the entire amount was returned to her thanks to SHO GK-I Police Station, but the episode has left the senior lady emotionally broken.
GK-I SHO Ajit Kumar Upadhayay has been having many interactions with Senior Citizens and has even requested those living alone to call their dedicated Beat Officer, who will take them to the Bank and help withdraw money safely. Seniors should reach out to Police and register what kind of services they need, so that staff can be instructed accordingly.
by Rajiv Kakria (9810275168)
